


Sweet and Bitter

by rebel_raven



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Copious Amounts of Fluff, DT use, Depression, Dorks in Love, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Genocide Route, Grillby has PTSD, Healing, Honey knows more than he lets on, Honey needs a hug, Hurt/Comfort, Jumping around scenes in their realtionship, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Minor Character Death, Over-Protective Siblings, Pacifist Route, Panic Attacks, Resets, Science, Self Care, Sexual Content, Shotgunning, Sickness, Smoking, Stress Baking, Tea needs a hug, These two are ridiculous, Time-line shennanigans, Timeline shennanigans, Tooth Rotting Fluff, canonical death, kinda slow burn, major character deaths, puns, underswap - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-01 21:54:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13304052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebel_raven/pseuds/rebel_raven
Summary: Snapshots into a relationship, how it began, what happened in between, and how it ultimately ended. There are ups and downs and things sometimes go sideways, but it always ends, one way or another.Grillby wasn't expecting love, he wasn't expecting much of anything beyond running his first ever shop and keeping his head above water. He didn't expect a boyfriend, or what happened after.Papyrus is just trying to get through his day, following the script as it was written. A sudden veering to the left, an idea out of the blue lands him with a fire elemental. He can't remember if it's happened before, but he finds himself falling for Grillby, and when they get together, the script seems to change so that he can't expect it.Until things settle out and shift.And the consequences he invokes can't be solved quite so easily.





	1. What's your name?

**Author's Note:**

> *gasps for air* HOLY SHIT I'M ALIVE!!!  
> This is a drabble series that will span 30 chapters, each chapter varying lengths, about Underswap Papyrus and Grillby, and what happens. In a sense, you can see it as a precursor to Lost to Memory.  
> I will update this daily, or as daily as I can get. There may be more than one chapter posted a day, given the varying length of these chapters. I was challenged by a friend of mine to do a prompt a day kind of thing, and today's is "Introduce yourself". For those of you who are worried about my other works, don't worry, I will be updating them soon as I now have gotten over my funk.  
> As always, I am my own beta, so if you see any spelling, grammar, or plot mistakes, please do leave a comment and tell me, and I will fix them as soon as I can! Enough of me babbling, on with the story.  
> No, wait, I lied.  
> DISCLAIMER!! I OWN NOTHING! UNDERTALE BELONGS TO TOBY FOX, I OWN NOTHING, aside from the plot of this story and this version of US Grillby, the Honey (Papyrus) and Mwesh (Sans), were created by a friend of mine (Mweshmellow), I OWN NOTHING!  
> Okay, now on with the story! Hope you enjoy it and that all is well!
> 
> -RR

The sound of rustling feathers seemed to fill the shop, overlaying the soft _clnkclinclnk_ of canisters and mugs as the owner rearranged them on the shelf, mostly out of nerves. He took a breath and stepped back from the shelf, scanning it critically for any signs of imperfection, imagined or real, flames wavering slightly.

“Fuck,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair, before he took off his glasses and started cleaning them out of sheer nerves. “Fuckfuckfuck,” he said it softly, empathically, like a mantra. His first shop. His first time away from home, on his own. It was the second week of being open, and beyond a cursory glance, few monsters had decided to come inside.

‘ _What if I fail? Oh stars… This is Hotlands, no one will want to come to my shop, of course they wouldn’t. Who the hell wants tea in the middle of a lava field?_ ’ His thoughts began to spiral out of control, his flames sparking and sputtering as he leaned against the counter, eyes shut tight, glasses clattering to the ground as he fought to keep himself calm. There was a sharp shriek and weight on his shoulder as his pet settled on his shoulder, cool beak pressing against his heated neck, trilling softly to try and calm him down.  
  
“I-I’m okay, Aries,” he stuttered out, shaking hand coming up to gently stroke the phoenix’s neck. The bird gave him a disturbingly monster-esq expression of disbelief and nipped his fingers.

"Ow!” he hissed, though it helped to slow his descent into panic. He could still feel it bubbling, just underneath his skin. It was hard to breathe. Why was it hard to breathe?

He straightened out his bowtie for the fifth time that morning and tried to get his breath back, but it kept escaping, as though he were being crushed from the inside out. He slowly crumpled to his knees, hiding behind the counter as he sat on the floor, head tucked between his knees and he struggled to focus. Aries hopped from his shoulder to the ground, talons scittering softly on the hardwood, croaking softly, trying to get his owner to look at him.

He was slowly losing himself though, unable to focus, unable to get his breath back, the only thoughts that circled were ‘ _Damn it damn it damn it, not again…_ ’

“Brother! This is the shop I was talking to you about! It’s super neat and- Oh… Is it not open? I saw him in here earlier when I was coming back from training with Alphys!” A very bubbly, loud voice echoed through the shop, making him jolt, panic rising like bile in the back of his throat. Nononononononono…

There was a slight pause and shuffling of feet before a lower, calmer voice said,

“Hey bro, why don’t you go call Alphys, see if she knows who runs the place? I’ll go poke around, and chai to find someone. Maybe they’re in the back.”

“That’s surprisingly active of your brother, I’m very proud of you- Wait…” the loud voice paused and then screeched, “WAS THAT AN EXCUSE FOR ONE OF YOUR TERRIBLE PUNS?!”

The lower voice chuckled, he could almost hear the grin in the other’s voice. “Aww, com’on bro. Ya know you leaf my puns. Don’t strain yourself over getting worked up about them!”

That made his panic subside a little, a shaky giggle escaping instead of the crackling and frantic popping of his flames.  
  
“You- AURGHH!! I’m going to go call Alphys if it will get me away from your awful puns!” The louder of the two proclaimed before the door opened again, the bell ringing softly before the door shut, cutting off the blast of hot air. There was silence from the other voice, the only sounds in the shop the soft trilling from Aries and the soft panicked noise of his flames crackling and popping as he tried not to bring attention to himself. There was a soft sigh and muttering, the sound of paper being slid against itself and then the low voice as its owner moved around the shop, closer and closer to the counter.

“Ya know, this is a really nice shop. Muffet was talkin about someone she knew opening it, and my bro was excited since Alphys started talkin about learning more about tea. But, so far, she hasn’t come to visit. And, I just gotta wonder why. Is it because you like to teas-drop on conversations of your customers-?” The voice cut itself off as it rounded the counter and found him sitting there, struggling to breathe. There was a hiss and feathers rustling as Aries waddled in front of him, blocking him from the stranger.

“Well shit,” the voice said, sounding… Worried? Ashamed? “You’re a mess.” there was a faint rattling as they made their way slowly around Aries and sat. A skeleton? “These your glasses, buddy?” He gave a mute, slow nod, lifting his head only a little bit. He was surprised at what he saw.

He knew that skeleton, though he doubted the other remembered him at all. Papyrus had somehow managed to fold his lanky body up so he sat opposite him, broad shoulders pressed against the shelves behind him, bright orange hoodie obviously worn down and stained, kahki shorts sliding down a bit to show more of his thigh bones, toes clacking together a bit in his socks. A cigarette was clenched between his teeth, unlit. He couldn’t make out much more of the other’s expression, half blind without his glasses and the feeling he was choking without air was making things blurrier than normal.

“Hey,” Papyrus said suddenly. “I herb from Muffet that you were opening a shop, but I never expected it to be this decadent,”

He blinked, giggling a little at the pun. That seemed to make Papyrus relax a little and he started telling terrible jokes.

“Knock knock,” he tapped on the floor.

“Who’s there?” he asked, voice soft.

“Little old lady,”

“....Littlle old lady who?” he felt a giggle starting to rise.

“I didn’t know you could yodel too.”  
  
That made him giggle and laugh and Papyrus kept them coming, so fast he couldn’t answer them and just kept giggling and snorting, calming down. When his flames stopped sparking and his giggles died down, he managed to reach out and take his glasses. Papyrus had them in one hand, holding them gently by the arm instead of folded up and clutched in his hand. The glass caught the reflection of his flames and made a small rainbow appear between them. Papyrus didn’t even look at it, he was watching him carefully, almost quizzically.

“Thank you,” he said softly, giving the skeleton a smile. “I...I don’t usually have such bad attacks…”

“Eh, s’kay man. Happens to the best of us.” Papyrus said with a shrug, standing before he offered a hand to help him up. “I’ve seen you around Muffet’s sometimes, but… ah,” he rubbed the back of his neck, a bit embarrassed. “I don’t know your name. Or, if I do, I probably forgot it. Sorry bout that,”

He giggled and took Papyrus’ hand, feeling the strength in the other as he pulled him to his feet easily.

“That’s alright. My name is Grillby, but friends tend to call me Tea.”

“Tea… Is that why your shop is called Tea Shoppe?” Papyrus was starting to grin like he caught a pun and Tea blushed a little, smiling.

“It was an unintentional pun, but yes.”

Papyrus snickered and grinned. “I like it. Unintentional puns are the best kind. I’m Papyrus, but most just call me Honey.”

“Why do they do that?”

“Cause I like honey,” he said with a shrug. “Could ask you why people call you Tea.”

“Same reason, I suppose.” Grillby said with a small grin. “I heard someone else here with you, your brother, he’s been gone for a while…”

“Oh, that’s my older brother, Sans. He’s the coolest.” Papyrus said with a grin. “Though, he’s a bit like a marshmallow, short and sweet, so he got the nickname Mweshmellow cause of a bit of a mix up.” he chuckled. “He hated it but I think he’s finally accepted it. If he’s talkin’ to Alphys, he’ll be a while. You got anything sweet?”  
  
Grillby grinned. “Tea or pastry?”

Papyrus' eye’s lit up and he grinned. “Both?”

Grillby laughed. “I can do both. Why don’t you sit and I’ll go see what I can make up?”

Papyrus nodded and choose one of the comfortable arm chairs by the window, slouching and messing with his phone. It wasn’t too long after that Tea came back out with a tray expertly balanced and he had to do a double take, half believing this was an entirely different monster. He was moving smoothly towards him, confident and composed like the last fifteen minutes never even happened. He set down the tray on the edge of a table between the two chairs, taking the brazier off and setting the kettle on it, then two mugs that looked like they had been repaired lovingly, the cracks almost nonexistent. Grillby set three small canisters and two metal mesh balls out by the mugs then the small plate of pastry.

Papyrus leaned forward and grabbed one of the golden-yellow cakes, they were round and not entirely flakey. The treat he held in his hand felt warm and a little sticky even, but it looked almost like the cookies Muffet had started to make from a recipe book she’d found in the Dump, though not quite. Her’s had a kind of cream in the middle, and were flakey and light, Grillby’s had more weight to them and were less flakey. He took a bite and groaned.

“Holy fuck, these are amazing,” He’d closed his eyes, missing the blush and the happy smile on Grillby’s face.

“Really?”

“Hell yeah, man. I’ll eat an entire box of them and not stop. They taste like honey and syrup,”

“Well, they’re not called honey cakes for nothing,” Grillby said with a grin and Papyrus chuckled.

“Fair enough.” he looked at the canisters and raised his brow. “So… What’re you supposed to do with this?”

“Well, it’s loose leaf tea. I make my own tea from various plants that grow here best I can. That,” he pointed to one canister, “Is a mint tea that’s very sweet, the one next to it is a floral tea, golden flower tea and preferred by a customer near Snowdin, though it feels like he's one of the only reasons I have a shop at all. Hardly anyone has stopped by. Oh! And the third one is slightly bitter, but tastes like hay and barley, and is a little alcoholic.”

“Huh… I’ll try the mint one I guess,” Grillby grinned and nodded, pouring the water in the mug and scooping out the right measure, before letting it steep. Papyrus watched him do it and pulled out a bottle of honey, his sweet tooth calling. When Grillby thought it was ready, he pulled the ball out and let it drain for a moment before setting it on a small saucer, and with a smile said,  
  
“Enjoy!”

Papyrus took a sip and blinked in surprise. It tasted pretty damn good. It was cool, soothing the heat that radiated from the outside and filled the homey, comfortable shop, and had a sweet edge to it that made him want to add more sugar to it, but not as much as he was planning. He usually hated tea, it was too gritty and bland. But damn if this didn’t taste amazing.

“Shit,” he said, and when Grillby started to look worried, he rushed to add, “This is probably the best damn cup of tea I’ve ever had.”

“Really?”

Papyrus nodded and started adding more honey to his drink, but stopping just before he turned the drink into liquid honey with a mint aftertaste. “Hell yeah, it’s amazing.” He found he liked the way the elemental smiled and blushed, the light blue looked cute on his dorky face.

“Brother! Have you found- Oh, hello!” At that moment, Sans walked in, wearing his guard uniform still. Metal shoulder guards, a bright blue bandana, white shirt and grey pants tucked into blue boots. His eye lights were bright with curiosity, a slight gap in his smile made him endearing and more than a little adorable. “I am the Magnificent Sans, but friends will call me Mwesh! What is your name?” He practically bounced over to Tea and he had to take a step back to avoid being run into.

“Oh, I’m Grillby but some call me Tea. It’s nice to meet you, Mwesh.”  
  
The way the smaller skeleton’s eyelights brightened made Grillby giggle and he looked at Honey in mild shock before he smiled even wider.

“You’re calling me Mwesh because you’re now my friend?!”

“Would you rather I call you Sans? I’m sorry… Honey was just talking about you and said that you didn’t like the nickname but you said you did-”

“Nono! It’s fine! I like the nickname!” Sans beamed. “Oh- did you bring my lazy bones brother tea?”

“Well, for the both of you, really.” Grillby said, smiling a little as Mwesh sat in the other chair.

“Do you have something that isn’t too sweet? I do not have a sweet tooth like my brother!”

“I have golden flower tea, if you would like that?”

“Oh, yes! Captain Alphys said that she loves tea, especially golden flower so it must truly be great!” 

Grillby giggled at the others enthusiasm and made up his tea and in short order, Sans was blowing steam away gently before he took a sip, and like Papyrus, his eyes went wide and he kept drinking.

“This is amazing!! I must tell Captain Alphys about your tea, I’m sure she would love it!”  
  
Grillby grinned and blushed, holding the tray in front of him, arms wrapped around it and pressing it to his chest.

“Thank you, that means a lot.”

Sans and Papyrus started talking and Grillby took his leave to go and organize the kitchen, give the brothers their privacy. After a while, he heard a soft cough.

“Hey,” Papyrus said as he turned around, the skeleton hovering in the door way. “So, it was pretty _ice_ to meet you, Tea. Properly I mean… Uh. So, we gotta go, well my bro had to, and I gotta go now too. How much do we owe you?”

“It’s 25 G for pastry and tea,” he said with a smile and Papyrus nodded, then patted his pockets down and gave Grillby a sheepish smile.

“Ah...I don’t have any G on me… Can I start a tab instead?”

“Are you actually going to pay it?”

“Next time, I swear.”

“I’ll hold you to that," Grillby said as he leaned against the counter, mock glaring at the other as he struggled to keep a straight face. 

“Cross my soul.” Papyrus said, looking startlingly serious. Grillby blinked, a little surprised, then gave a shy smile and nodded.

“Good. Then...I’ll see you again soon, Honey?”  
  
Honey winked. “Couldn’t get rid of me if you chai’d.”

That made Grillby giggle and laugh, sparking happily as he shook his head. "You're ridiculous." 

Papyrus snickered. "Yeah, but you seem to like my puns. See ya round, hot stuff," before he walked around the corner and was gone. Grillby felt his face erupt into a bright blue blush. He didn't even realize the door hadn't been opened and the bell hadn't rung. 


	2. First Love... Oh Gods, that's Terrifying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four months have passed since they first met, and feelings have grown, almost without the other noticing. Older siblings are always helpful, if sometimes entirely too sassy and slightly overprotective, in helping you understand what you're feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, two chapters in one night! That is shocking for me, but then I'm really getting into writing this, so expect this kind of thing in the future. The plot bunnies have escaped the writing folder, they won't let me go now! Thank you to everyone who's left kudos, bookmarked and left comments, you've made my night! I hope you enjoy my attempts at plot and shenanigans! As always, I am my own beta, so if you see any grammar, spelling or plot mistakes, please leave me a comment and I'll fix it soon as I can!  
> Okay, enough from me, on with the story!  
> No, wait, I lied.  
> DISCLAIMER!!!  
> I OWN NOTHING!! UNDERTALE BELONGS TO TOBY FOX, I OWN NOTHING, aside from the plot of this story, my versions of the Underswap characters in this fic, and Honey and Mwesh belong to my friend (Mweshmellow on Tumblr), I OWN NOTHING!!  
> Okay, now on with the story! I hope that you enjoy it and that all is well!
> 
> -RR

“So, are you going to tell me about this mystery man, little brother?” Fuku asked as she watched her baby brother practically waltz around his shop. He’d been almost ridiculously happy for weeks now, and while she was happy to see him so happy, there was the ever-present worry that something would happen and cause him to crash out again. His shop had been doing exceedingly well over the last four months, which she was happy to see. Her brother worked hard to get where he was, and to see him burning so brightly made her smile. Her own lime green flames sparked and crackled as he danced and sashayed around the main room, getting materials to make their tea as she nibbled on an acorn cake.

“What mystery man?” he asked, looking at her over his shoulder as he grabbed the tea kettle and held it, letting his own magic slowly heat up the water inside. The metal began to glow a soft orange with his flames, and whistled shrilly once before she lifted it and poured their tea, the soft red-yellow of the aptly named Magma Tea reflecting off the black of the interior of their mugs. She set the kettle on a tile plate that would absorb the excess heat and diffuse it, picking up another pastry.

“The mystery man that’s been making you waltz around and practically _dance_ , Grillbz. I haven’t seen that in _years_. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to see you so relaxed and not freaking out so much. It’s good to see you smile like that,” she said, waving her flat, crispy cake in the general direction of his face.

“Like what?!” he demanded, huffily picking up his tea and taking a sip.

“Like a lovestruck idiot.”

He seemed to choke and for a moment Fuku worried she managed to send her brother into a fit of some kind as he hacked and wheezed, pounding his chest. Aries, having perched on the back of her chair, screeched in worry but quieted as Grillby calmed himself down and rasped,

“I’m not a lovestruck idiot! Honey is a friend!”

Fuku grinned and crossed her legs, feeling distinctly smug. “Oh? So Honey is his name then? Is he a bear? I never took you to like mammalian monsters, brother, but then my girlfriend is a water-based monster, so I suppose that makes sense.”

“No- That’s not- Augh!! You’re so fucking infuriating.” Grillby took a breath and explained, calmer, “His name is Papyrus, his nickname is Honey.”

The second those words left his mouth, he regretted it. Fuku’s flames died a little, becoming more concentrated in color, turning from a light lime to a rich emerald as she leaned forward, a smirk on her face and interested gleam in her soft gold eyes.

“Oh? His _nickname_ is Honey? Is that the one you gave to him? Cause nicknames aren’t something that you just give out willy-nilly, baby brother.”

“That’s what a lot of people call him!” Grillby protested, struggling to keep up with his sister as she made him more and more flustered.

“Oh? Cause I’ve certainly heard of Papyrus. I know Captain Alphys, remember, she comes over sometimes when she’s not busy. Al is always so busy, so I haven’t been able to see her much the past two weeks, but I’ve definitely heard about Papyrus and his brother, Sans.” she took a sip of her tea and gave her brother an appraising look, humming softly. “So, did you fall head over heels for him the first time you saw him? What… Four months ago now? That’s when you opened up your shop. Or, did you meet him sooner and just get to know him now?”

If it were anyone else, Grillby would have flipped them off and written them off as a gossiper. But this was his older sister, and while he most certainly would flip her off, he knew she wasn’t looking for gossip. She was going into Over Protective Big Sister Mode.

' _Honey, please don’t come by today…_ ’ he thought desperately before he said,

“No! It’s nothing like that! Hon-Papy-Honey is _friend_ , Fuku! I’ve met him before at Muffet’s, but he was halfway drunk, he looked pretty upset and Muffet cut him off. I helped him home and he thanked me, then went inside. I’d be surprised if he managed to remember that, as is, he barely remembers that he met me before. Though, if I’m honest, our second meeting was barely any better-” he cut himself off and Fuku titled her chin down a little as she leaned back, raising a firey brow.

“Oh?”

“Fuck… You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope!” she said cheerfully, popping the ‘p’ with a grin. “Now details or I go pester Al to see if I can get Sans-”

“No! Fuck, fine!” He sighed, running his hands through his hair and explaining what happened during their first meeting. Fuku’s grin fell a little and she nodded, looking a little more apprehensive until he finished.

“Well, that’s certainly an eventful second, technically first proper, meeting.” She said, letting out a gusty sigh.

Grillby took a drink of his tea and shrugged, mumbling around the rim of his cup,

“He’s a nice guy, Fuku. He makes me laugh, and he’s really sweet, actually. He helped me out a few weeks ago in lieu of paying off his tab, though he still has to pay it off. I’m starting to think that he won’t and he’ll rack it up like Muffet’s but I don’t quite mind that.”

Fuku almost did a spit take as she stared at her brother, choking on her drink before she got it down.

“ _You let him have a tab?!_ ”

“...Yes?”

“I’m your damn sister and I don’t get a tab!” She said weakly, torn between laughing and running out the door to find whoever this Papyrus really was. Because the way Alphys had ranted about him, he was lazy, barely did his work and slept half the time if he wasn’t sitting at his post, smoking and/or high as the cavern walls. And yet, the way Grillby was talking about him, it made him sound like he were actually someone- Her eyes widened as the realization dawned. Her baby brother _was_ head over heels for Papyrus! And Papyrus sounded about the same to her.

“That’s because I don’t see you that often and I know you don’t drink tea that often. Papyrus drinks my tea and orders pastry.” Grillby said with a soft huff, though he was struggling not to smile.

“Baby brother, tell me about Papyrus. I promise I won’t tease you about him.” Fuku said seriously and he pursed his lips before nodding slowly.

“Alright… Well, for one, he’s a really sweet guy, actually. He makes a lot of really shitty puns that always make me laugh, and he knows a lot about cars actually! I got him talking about his interests and he went on and on, and then he got embarrassed about it until I told him that I liked hearing about his interests. He kinda laughed and blinked, then asked me what I liked. And then I started talking about languages that I’ve learned from the books you’ve found in the Dump, and we just continued on from there. Oh, there was also the time I was restocking the back room and he heard me singing but he didn’t call attention to it, he just… Listened. And I found I didn’t mind it if it were him.” a goofy smile started tugging at his lips. “He’s really good with Aries too, and lets him perch on his shoulders whenever he’s in the store. His shoulders a ridiculously broad, by the way. I honestly didn’t expect him to be so broad shouldered. You said he sounded like a bear earlier, cause of his nickname, right?”

Fuku nodded, silent and struggling not to grin like a maniac.

“Well, he’s kinda like a bear, I suppose. He really like honey, and he’s very sweet, and

strong too. He caught me when I fell off the stock ladder, half with magic and half his own strength, I think. He’s also lazy, and likes to nap in the armchair you’re sitting in, just kinda curled up there and fell asleep for a good three hours once. It was cute…” Grillby trailed off as the realization hit him. There was a pause before a tea kettle like whine started to rise from his throat and his face erupted into blue, setting his teacup down to bury his face in his hands, glasses pushed upwards to his forehead by his slender fingers. 

“You have a crush~” Fuku sing-songed, like a child, grinning manically. “You have a _big FAT_ crush on Papyrus!”

“I-!” Grillby couldn’t even make proper words, the rest of what he wanted to say lost as he sat up straighter, Papyrus and Sans appearing at the door. Or really, Sans appearing at the door and Papyrus trudging behind him, slouched.

“Oh, is that him?” Fuku asked, grinning widely. Grillby shot to his feet and opened the door, the sign he had hanging up flipped to _Closed~._

“Mwesh! Honey! Come in!”

“Are you sure, Tea? We wouldn’t want to intrude if you’re not open today!” Sans said, voice bubbly and loud as always.

“Please, intrude away. Mweh, Honey, this is my sister, Fuku Fire. Fuku, this is Sans and his younger brother Papyrus.” he gestured to each of them in turn. Fuku grinned and stood, brushing off her skirt.

“Well, I shouldn’t keep your customers-”

“Oh, no Miss Fuku! Please don’t go! I’ve been wanting to meet the younger sister of Tea, if he is great, then surely you must be as well!” Sans said suddenly, bounding inside and Papyrus rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling a little as Fuku laughed.   
  
"I'm actually Grillby's older sister."   
  
"You get mistaken for the younger sibling too!?!" Sans asked in awe before launching himself into a conversation with her while Papyrus walked over to the counter, stopping in front of Grillby.

“Heh, sorry about him… He’s been pretty excited to come see ya. Sorry we haven’t been out here the past few weeks… Or, I guess, I’m sorry _I_ haven’t been out here. Things got busy.”

“Oh, no no, you’re fine, Honey!” Grillby said with a genuine smile. “I’m glad to see you. Both of you that is!” he rushed to add, eyes darting to Sans, though he and Fuku were already in deep discussion about something or other, talking too quickly to be understood properly.

“Hehe, well, guess that’s good. I’ve been meaning to pay your tab, actually, it’s kinda why I’ve been so busy. I picked up a few extra shifts, cause ya know, can only keep track of one tab at a time, ya know?” He pulled out a small pouch of gold. “This should cover my tab.”

Grillby took it and started to count it, nodding to himself. “This more than covers your tab, Honey,” he said, looking at the other in a bit of confusion.

“Well, you know what they say, better too much than too little.” He chuckled nervously and Grillby gave him a sweet smile. It made Papyrus’ Soul do loops and beat faster than ever.

“Hey, so… You know how with more jobs means that you have to have more legally required breaks? Well, I have a whole night off, if you wanna uhm… Go out or something.” he said, shoes scuffing the floor.

‘ _Damn it Papyrus, you’re smoother than this! You’ve had monsters in your bed faster than they could blink when they hit on you, and yet you’re stalling with Tea?!_ ’ he mentally berated himself, watching as the elemental’s face erupted into a bright blue blush and he gave a bashful smile, nodding slowly.

“I...I’d really like that, actually. Do… Do you mean like a date?”

“Yeah, ya know. Just the two of us, together. Doing… stuff.” he finished lamely and Grillby giggled.

“Well, I think that that would be a lot of fun, just us. Doing stuff.”

Papyrus beamed, looking relieved. “Really?” when Grillby nodded, he added, “I can call you and let you know where we’re going, alright? Is that okay? Should we avoid anywhere? Like… Obviously Waterfall, cause it’s so humid and-”

“I’m free next Friday,” Grillby said suddenly, giving Papyrus that same genuine, sweet smile. “I’ll be here, or we can meet up somewhere if it’s easier.”

“Nah, I know a few shortcuts,” Papyrus said with a wink, regaining his confidence. “I’ll meet you here and then take you somewhere as a surprise, alright?”

“Sounds fun,” Grillby giggled and Papyrus felt his spine melt a little as his Soul did somersaults in his ribcage.

‘ _Oh my stars, I’m so far gone for this wonderful dork,_ ’ he thought, unaware that Grillby was having the same thought process.

“Brother! We must get going!” Sans chirped suddenly. “You will have to see Tea next week on your date!” He was putting away his phone as Fuku crossed her legs again, tucking her phone on her skirt pocket once more, smiling at the pair.

“I’m so happy for you two! Oh, and Papyrus,” she purred, voice sweet while her eyes were hard as stone. “We’ll have to meet up and chat sometime soon. I would so love to get to know you better.”

‘ _How the fuck is this woman scarier than Muffet?!_ ’ Papyrus thought, bone turning a little ashen as he gave a weak chuckle and checked his wrist.

“Oh, wow, is it that time already? Wow, bro, we really better get going if we wanna go to that thing we have! Come on, let’s go! See you next week Tea, I’ll text you later, babe!” and with that, grabbed his brother, speed walked out the door and disappeared from sight.

“Well, that was certainly entertaining,” Fuku giggled as Tea stared at the door, face glowing blue. “Brother? Grillby? You okay?” She asked, smiling a little as he nodded, mute.

“He…I…”

“Have a date, yes. Congratulations. It only took you four months.” Fuku laughed. “Now come sit, you look like you’re about to collapse.”

Grillby did as directed and sat in his armchair once more, a large, dopey smile spreading across his face.

“I have _a date with Honey_ ,”

Fuku patted his knee as she texted Sans. “Yes, baby brother, you do. And I’m very proud of you,” she said sincerely, looking up from her screen. “Now, don’t overthink it.”

“Uh-huh.” he said, slowly coming out of his lovestruck haze. He gave her a look and added, “Did you have to threaten him?”

“Threaten him? When did I do that?” She asked innocently.

“When you used The Tone on him and looked at him in that tone of voice,” Grillby said dryly.

“Well, you _are_ my baby brother. I’m supposed to be protective over you! I’m your big sister and your mom since mom and dad dusted,” she said a bit defensively and he sighed, giving her a patient smile.

“And I love you for it, Fuku, I really do. But I’m a grown monster, I can tie my shoes and everything.”

“I know, I’m just… I’m worried about you, okay? Let me worry.”

“So long as no bodily harm occurs, then fine.” Grillby said with a chuckle, leaning back and taking a drink of his cooler tea, though a bit of magic and it was hot again.

“ _Undeserved_ bodily harm. I can promise _undeserved_ bodily harm, baby brother.” she said with a smile.

“That’s all I can ask, I suppose,” Grillby said with a put upon sigh before he chuckled and shook his head. “You’re never gonna change.”

“Nope,” Fuku said with a grin. “Now, tell me more about these languages you’re studying.”

Her phone dinged as Grillby began to talk and she nodded along as he explained German syntax as she read her messages and then replied.

_MWESH: MY BROTHER IS VERY EXCITED TO GO ON A DATE WITH YOUR BROTHER! WE WILL HAVE TO MEET UP AND TALK!  
  
_ _Me: Of course. Tomorrow I am free around late afternoon. Would you like to come over? We can have a private discussion._

_MWESH: THANK YOU! CAN YOU PLEASE SEND ME YOUR ADDRESS?  
_  
 _Me: Of course. Capital, Fire Street Apartment 221_

_MWESH: THANK YOU, FUKU! I SHALL BE THERE AROUND 3 PM, AFTER MY TRAINING WITH ALPHYS!_

_Me: See you then, Mwesh._

Maybe it was a little underhanded to meet up with her brother’s date’s older brother, but Grillby had been hurt before. She refused to let him be hurt again. She tuned back into the conversation and smiled as he got more and more animated about grammar structure. It was good to see him genuinely happy. She just hoped it lasted.


	3. Parents? Do you mean Over Protective Older Siblings?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fuku and Sans have a discussion about their baby brothers and show some adorable pictures of their baby brothers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter than normal, but then I'm just excited to be writing again. I should be posting at least one more chapter tonight, if not more. Thank you to those who've commented, left kudos and bookmarked, it means a lot! As always, I am my own beta, so if you see any spelling, grammar, or plot mistakes, please do tell me and I will do my best to fix them as soon as possible! Enough from me, on with the story!   
> No, wait, I lied.   
> DISCLAIMER!! I OWN NOTHING!! UNDERTALE BELONGS TO TOBY FOX, I OWN NOTHING, aside from the plot of this story and the versions of the Underswap characters, Honey and Mwesh belong to Mweshellow, I OWN NOTHING!   
> Okay, now on with the story! I hope you enjoy!
> 
> -RR

“So, are you sure that he won’t hurt my baby brother?” 

The question should have caught her off guard, but in honestly, Fuku was halfway expecting it. She looked at the small skeleton seated across her, hands folded as he gave her a look, starry eyes bright but expression serious. She hummed, nodding as she stirred her coffee. His glass of milk had long ago been drunk and she was tempted to stand and offer him another glass. She’d really bought it so he could have something to drink, as he didn’t like sugar and she wasn’t as good as her brother when it came to making tea. The coffee was made earlier by her girlfriend before she’d left for work at NTT’s station. 

“I asked you first.” she said with a hint of a smile. 

“But I asked second, and I, the Magnificent Sans, say ladies first.” Sans countered, his teeth pulling up into a more relaxed smile than the slightly forced grin she’d seen when he walked in. After a bit of pleasantry, they’d gotten down to business. Talking about their younger brothers. 

“Alright. Well, Grillby, for all he can be very charming, graceful, and suave, he is a very anxious monster. He treats others as they treat him, and this is his first time away from home, actually living out on his own and starting his business. He’s had...some bad days in the past, but he’s been getting better.” she took a sip of coffee. “And as for hurting your brother, he wouldn’t be able to if he tried. Now, if Papyrus so much as makes him sniffle, I am not above roasting him over a bed of coals and then feeding him to Aries.”

Sans nodded and hummed, playing with his glass of milk for a moment. 

“I can understand and appreciate that. I may be in the Royal Guard, but I am also not above using my Blue Attack on Tea if he should hurt Papy. But I haven’t been able to see their interactions as often as I could, but Papy has a new shift out here in Hotlands on occasion to come out and see him, or so Alphys told me.” 

“Well, at least we know they’re dedicated. Talking about Honey has made Grillby dance and sing, something I haven’t heard or seen him do for many years.” 

“How old is Tea?” Sans asked, tilting his head to the side a bit. 

“He’s twenty-two, and I’m thirty. How about you and Honey?” 

“I’m twenty-six! And my brother is twenty-one.” 

“Huh, so they’re pretty close. That’s good to know. Does that bother you? That he’s a year older?” 

“Hmn… Not really. Tea seems like a very great monster and from what you’ve told me about him, he’s not likely to hurt Papy.” 

“I feel the same.” she took another drink of her coffee, silence falling. “Would you like to see some pictures of my amazing baby brother?”

Sans’ starry eyes lit up and he brought out a photo album from his inventory. “I have Papy’s with me.”

Fuku giggled. “Give me a moment, I’ll go get Grillby’s. More milk?”   
  
Sans nodded and grinned. Fuku stood, grabbing the milk from the small ice box she and Skate kept and pouring him the last of the milk and setting the glass to the side before she went over to the living room and over to a bookshelf that spanned from the floor to ceiling. She pulled a photo album off the second shelf, brushing the dust off the top of the pages and the spine before heading back to the kitchen. Sans already had his own album open, staring at the first page lovingly. 

“They grow up far too quickly.” Fuku said as she came back in, sitting at the table with him again, opening the photo album and turning to the first page. “This is Grillby when he was a sparkling, we don’t have a lot of photos of him as a baby though.”    


The photo was a little faded, but it was still adorable. Grillby was a bright blue with tints of gold and orange flames, wearing a bright orange onesie. His eyes were a soft gold, with flecks of silver and white, a jack-o-lantern smile on his face as he waved at the camera, other hand securely gripping a worn teddy bear, which was missing a button eye and looked to be a bit singed. Grillby was absolutely tiny, and he looked adorable. 

“Oh. My.  _ Stars!!  _ He’s so cute!!” Sans cooed, flipping through his album till he found Papyrus’ baby photos. In one, he was being held in Sans’ arms, the small bundle of orange blankets with a white skull poking out of the swaddle, eyelights half open and looking around curiously. Another, Papyrus was toddling around in a light blue onesie, one foot hesitantly in the air as the other was firmly planted on the ground, arms held out in front of him as it looked like he was going to fall. 

“Our brothers are so cute,” they said in stereo, looking at each other and laughing, relaxing completely. It seemed they’d reached an understanding.  
  
"Babe? I'm home!" Came another voice and Fuku giggled, calling,   
  
"In the kitchen, Skate!"   
  
A purple water based monster came in with a hat on backward, tentacle-like feelers held back with a cloth headband it seemed and bright, black eyes looked at Sans curiously and a little guardly. She had a bag slung over her shoulder with the words NTT CREW written on it, and she wore black pants, boots and a bright blue shirt, obviously part of her crew uniform. Her gills on the side of her neck fluttered a little as she nuzzled Fuku's forehead, her guarded look melting instantly.   
  
"What's all this?" she asked, looking at the albums. 

"Skate, this is Sans, or Mwesh. He's Papyrus' older brother, the skeleton I told you about that's going on a date with Grillby in a few days."   
  
"Holy  _shit!_ You weren't kiddin?! Damn, I'm gonna owe NTT money now," she muttered the last part and Sans' starry eyes went huge. 

"You work with Nabstabot?!"   
  
"Huh?" she looked at him and grinned. "Yeah, I'm part of his crew. I'm the stage manager to for his main music show. You a fan, little guy?"   
  
"Am I a- I LOVE NTT!!! I'm his BIGGEST fan!!" Sans said excitedly, practically bouncing from excitement.   
  
"Hehehe, I can see that. Sans, right? A'ight, I'll see if I can get you some tickets to his next show. If your baby bro passed Fuku's muster, then he must be something, and if you're NTT's biggest fan, then I think I can work something," she chuckled.   
  
Sans looked like he was about to combust he was so happy and started throwing rapid fire questions at Skate, who answered them without issue. Fuku leaned back and held her mug in two hands, hiding her smile with the mug as she took a long drink. She had nothing to worry about.  


	4. Empty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He can't bring himself to eat much, can't bring himself to leave his damn bed. Old scars carry weight and there's something wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I'd post this chapter yesterday, but it got later than I thought and this chapter has morphed into a monster. Well, tis the nature of fic. Say you're going to write a short chapter and end up with a near 10k chapter. Thank you to those who've commented, left kudos and bookmarked, it means a lot! As always, I am my own beta, so if you see any spelling, grammar, or plot mistakes, please do tell me and I will do my best to fix them as soon as possible! Enough from me, on with the story!  
> No, wait, I lied.  
> DISCLAIMER!! I OWN NOTHING!! UNDERTALE BELONGS TO TOBY FOX, I OWN NOTHING, aside from the plot of this story and the versions of the Underswap characters, Honey and Mwesh belong to Mweshellow, I OWN NOTHING!  
> Okay, now on with the story!  
> I hope you enjoy!
> 
> -RR

He woke up to his alarm going off, again. A hand reached out from the burritoed mess of blankets to hit the snooze and after a moment, he managed it. Then, he pulled his arm back into his nest of blankets and curled back up, staring at the dimly lit folds around him, his flames giving off a faint light. Aries made a muffled screech, flying down and landing on the lump, pulling at the blankets a little to try and get his master up and out. Grillby shifted and tugged the blankets in closer, tucking them around himself even more. The dark was soothing, it was quiet. And maybe he would get some real sleep, stuff that wasn’t plagued by nightmares or memory.

‘ _Though, at this point, I would take being terrified to sleep over just… nothing.'_  he thought idly, lifting a hand to his face and watching his flames twist and curl lazily. Idle. Just like him. He heard his phone buzz faintly. Pause. Buzz. Pause. Buzz. Buzzbuzzbuzzbuz-

“Shut up!” He snapped, reaching out and grabbing the annoying device before hitting _end call_ , not even caring to look at the ID. It was Fuku. Or Honey. Or Muffet. It didn’t matter, he just wanted things to _stop_. He couldn’t focus on what they said anyways. Muffet had picked up on what was going on pretty quickly, and told him to call her when he was feeling like this. But, he didn’t want to bother her, he didn’t see the point in it. He knew she was right in the middle of a rush, and while his best friend would always take time to talk to him, it didn’t always help. She’d have to cut out in the middle of their conversations to attend to someone, or to make a pastry batch, or she’d have to attend to a member of her family that got too cold and was dangerously ill. Papyrus had called, once, a few days ago. The conversation replayed in his head, a terrible loop.

_“Heya,” Papyrus sounded so warm and inviting, and Grillby just couldn’t muster the strength to be his usual self._

_“Hi,” he said, voice low and a little husky. He was half way glad that Papyrus didn’t know what he sounded like after he’d been crying. His back hurt and it felt like old memory was being dredged up. But he couldn’t let Papyrus know. He couldn’t bother him with something so trivial._

_“...You okay over there, hot stuff?” He sounded almost worried, concerned really. Faintly, Grillby could hear Sans cooking. He nodded and gave a soft hum, then cleared his throat._

_“Yeah. I’m fine. Just not feeling that great, you know?” He hated that his voice broke at the end of that sentence. He hated that he could feel fresh tears building at the corners of his eyes._ ‘Damn it, not again,’ _he thought viciously, barely managing to swallow back the tears._

_There was silence. It felt uncomfortably long, stretching for what felt like years. It lasted three minutes. Three minutes of silence. Grillby held his breath, flames crackling softly as he listened to the other shift and move around, like he forgot that he was even on the call._

_“Yeah, okay. You need me to come over? You’re not sounding so hot, hot stuff.” Why did he have to sound worried?_

_“No, I’m...I’m okay. I just need a few days to get better. Alone.”_

‘I don’t want to bother you. You shouldn’t be worrying about me. You don’t need to worry about me. Please don’t.’

_There was silence again, shorter this time. “Yeah, okay. I’ll call you in a few days, babe.”_

_“Okay. Bye, Honey.” he hung up before the other could say anything else. And then he’d curled into a ball of misery and tears, the tears carving black tracks down his cheeks, making his flames sputter and hiss. Soon though, even the slight pain of crying began to fade away, along with the phantom pain in his back. And all he could do was lay there, shaking and feeling empty._

Aries pulled at his blanket even more, demanding his attention now. Slowly, Grillby pulled himself out of his nest of blankets and made his way to the kitchen, pulling out the meat his loyal pet was wanting. He chopped it up quickly into small pieces, juices still leaking from it before he scooped it up into his hands and plopped it into a special bowl he had made for the phoenix.

Then, he took the bowl and attached it to the birds roost, a metal branch that he’d set into the wall. Aries made a soft, pleased coo and flew up to eat. Grillby smiled faintly, but even that felt like too much, and he went back to bed, curling underneath his blankets and tucking himself into a ball. Nothing mattered now.

_-_-_-_

Boney fingers drummed on the wooden table, fingertips catching slightly in the grain before they were lifted once again. It was rhythmic, continuous, but choppy, like an old Ford 8N engine starting up from a decade of disuse, clogged with muck and rust.

“Are you going to order something today or just stare at your phone?” Muffet asked, jolting Papyrus from his muddled thoughts, fingers stopping their tapping.

“Meh, usual for me.” he said with an easy grin that had Muffet staring at him pointedly for a moment before she reached under the counter and pulled out a bottle of honey for him.

“You actually going to pay your tab?” she asked, holding it out of his reach with one hand as another pair pulled out her phone, two of her eyes darting to look at her screen.

“Yeah, next time.” he said with a grin, though he watched her carefully. This wasn’t like Muffet to be so distracted. “I’ll get my G to you, don’t worry bout it.”

She huffed, rolling her other six eyes in mock disdain before she handed him his sugar fix.

“I really should be cutting you off sooner.”

He would drench things in honey usually, or drink it straight just to fuck with people’s heads, but then he’d grown to actually like drinking it straight and added it to almost everything he could. She shook her head and snorted softly, before turning her full attention back to her phone, furiously texting.

Papyrus paused, bottle at his teeth before he lowered it. “What’s buzzin you?”

She didn’t even react to his pun and sighed. “I could ask you the same thing. Last six months, you barely stop by my shop and last time you brought Tea by. If you like him, I will warn you not to break his heart.”

Papyrus blinked. This was… Odd for Muffet. Yes, he could count her as a friend, but he didn’t know she knew Tea as well. Well, maybe she could answer his questions.

“What’dya mean?” he asked, starting innocently. He started to take a drink from his bottle, squeezing and sucking down the sugary goodness. He found himself missing the taste of Tea’s honey cakes and slowed down.

“Papyrus. Grillby is a very, very sweet monster. He’s also riddled with anxiety, and as far as I know, you’re the first person he’s actually dated unless he managed to sneak someone past my nose.” when his sockets went wide, she scoffed and rolled her eyes, smirking a little as she went and got him a glass of water. “Honey, did you think you were being discrete? Or were you just trying to hide that you were dating Tea?” her glare bored holes into his skull even as he took the offered water.

“What-” he managed after drinking some of the water. “Water you talking about? Tea and I-”

“Are dating, yes, I know.” she said, folding her arms and glaring at him harshly. “Did you plan to sleep with him and toss him aside, like your one nighters?”

“No! Muffet, stars, calm down.” he said, thankful that the cafe was mostly empty and that the occupants were headed towards drunk. Good lord, Grillby had said once that Fuku was over protective, but he’d never expected Muffet. “Yes, we’re dating, we’ve only gone out on a few dates over the past two months, so I don’t know how to qualify it beyond “date mates”. We’ve both been pretty busy, hard to keep up with that and see each other regularly. He’s a sweet guy, I’m not looking to just sleep with him and walk.”

She relaxed a little and nodded. “Well, that crosses one worry off my list then. Look, Grillby is my best friend, I’ve been with him through his ups and downs, and his downs are...well they’re like you when you come in high, looking to get drunk and I have to cut you off before you become a mess. He hasn’t been like that since six months ago.”

Papyrus felt his Soul tighten a little in worry and gave a small nod. “Alright, that makes… some kind of sense, I guess. What about him meeting me makes him so chill then?”

She shrugged a set of shoulders, looking at her phone. “Must be your natural charm,” she said, distracted. “Aww, shucks, I didn’t know you thought so highly of me, Muffet.” He said, batting his eyes at her. She snorted and rolled her eyes.

“You’re pushing it today, Honey.” she let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair, mussing her perfect buns.

By now, Honey was truly starting to worry. He’d never seen Muffet so agitated, not even when someone else owed her G, or one of her family members were hurt. Yes, she would worry, but never get so visibly agitated or distracted.

“...Muffet?” He looked at his phone now, turning it on and looking for any new messages. None. How many days had that last call been? He checked, faintly hearing Muffet talk.

“I’m worried about Grillby. I haven’t heard anything back from him for several days, not even when he said he would text me. He said he was sick and hung up last time I tried to call him.”

“I mean,” he didn’t look up from his screen, looking back through the recent calls. “I called him...A week and a half ago.” Had it really been a fortnight? He looked for missed calls. None. No texts either. He flipped back to calls, as if his phone would miraculously start to ring if he stared at it with Grilby’s contact information displayed.

“Well, how’d he sound?”

“Uh…” he thought back. “Tired, I guess? He cut the conversation short and wanted some time to recover on his own. So I gave him his space.” he shrugged helplessly.

“You...You left him alone, for a fortnight?” Muffet asked, staring at him in mild shock.

“Well, yeah. He didn’t sound that great, his was a little stuffed up I guess. Congestion or however elementals get sick…”

“Papyrus, _elementals don’t have mucus,_ ” Muffet hissed, furiously texting. “They get cool cores, or water damage, or start to freeze due to lack of proper body regulation. Tea was probably crying from pain! He doesn’t like to draw attention to things like that, hell he’d rather dust than be a bother to someone else.”

Papyrus felt his non-existent gut drop away and he hit dial, holding the phone up to his skull.

“Come on, come on,” he muttered.

“Hello!” came Grillby’s cheery voice and Papyrus almost let out a sigh of relief but choked on it as the voice continued, “I’m sorry I can’t pick up right now, I’m probably busy. If you’ve texted me, I will get back soon as I can! Sorry for not being able to pick up right now, but leave a message and I’ll call as soon as I can! Have a good day!” _beeeep._

“Hey, babe, it’s Honey. Kinda worried, you’ve been radio silent for a fortnight now. When you get this, send me a text, k? Just somethin to know you’re still kicking.” he paused, fingers drumming on the table top again. “Hope you’re feeling alright. See ya soon.” and hung up.

Muffet was staring at him and Papyrus stared right back.

“What? He’s probably asleep right now! I don’t wanna catch him with his pants down, least… not yet.” he gave a weak chuckle at his poor attempt at making the conversation lighter but Muffet looked less than amused.

“Honey,” she said, tone warning.

“Look, if he doesn’t text me by tonight, I’ll go and check on him, a’ight?” he checked his phone and sighed, standing and stretching. “Wellp, my breaks over. I should get back to work, be back for my next break.”

Muffet just snorted and rolled her eyes as Papyrus walked out the door and disappeared.

He wound up at his station in Waterfall, feeling off-kilter. He stumbled for a moment but managed to catch himself and shook his head.

“I need a smoke,” he muttered, pulling his pack out and lighting one up. “Of all the days to not have my other pack with me,” he muttered before inhaling and holding the smoke in his chest cavity before letting it filter out.

God, what he would give to be able to get high, letting his worries fade to the back of his mind. He sat at his station, phone in hand and knee jittering up and down as he stared at the screen, waiting for the text from Grillby. His shift was uneventful. No text. No call. He put it away and took a breath, getting ready to shortcut home when his phone buzzed and his Soul leapt with Hope.

He pulled it out of his hoodie pocket and then stared, mildly disappointed. It was his brother.

_BRO: BROTHER!! YOU ARE LATE COMING HOME, ARE YOU GOING TO BE HOME FOR TACOS OR NO?_

_Me: yeah bro, i’ll be home. just gotta take a quick shortcut._

_BRO: OKAY!! I WILL MAKE SURE YOUR TACOS ARE KEPT WARM!_

_Me: heh, thanks bro._

He stubbed out his second cigarette with his foot and took a step, and ended up walking into his kitchen.

“Heya, bro. Dinner smells great.” And it did. Sans’ cooking was always on point, while his usually fell around _indescribable_ and _how is this even edible_. As usual, it was tacos but dinner tacos were delicious.

“Mwehehehe! Thank you brother! Now come and sit! I have so much to talk about!”   
  
Papyrus grinned and nodded, barely managing to stomach one taco as his brother talked his ears off, though he normally ate enough for the both of them. He found he wasn’t hungry, or rather, he couldn’t stomach the food for once. It settled uncomfortably in his body, like the first time he tasted some of his own disastrous creations. It felt like the abomination that could barely be called food was in front of him instead of his brother’s delicious home cooking. His phone sat, heavy and silent, like a ball and chain, in his pocket.

“Brother!” Sans’ loud and rather worried voice called him from his thoughts and he jolted.

“Huh, what?”

“Where you sleeping with your sockets open again, Papyrus? You know that’s not healthy.” Sans scolded.

“Nah, it’s not that. Just… Kinda worried about Tea is all. He said he wasn’t feeling great a fortnight ago and asked to be left alone to recover, so I said sure.”

“Papyrus, while I agree that respecting your datemate’s wishes is a good thing, you should have gone to check up on him first! Have you done that yet?” Sans asked, putting his hands on his hips and giving Papyrus his best disapproving look.

“No… Not yet. I thought he just needed some space,” Papyrus said with a weak shrug. 

Sans was on his feet in an instant and ran around, grabbing a container and left over taco’s from dinner before shoving it into Papyrus’ arms.

“Go and visit your date mate! And bring him some food! Nothing helps someone get better like some of the Magnificent Sans’ tacos! If he can eat it, I’ll make him soup too!”

“Heh, you’re the greatest bro. I’ll be back later, okay?”

“Yes, yes, now off you go!”

Papyrus nodded and stood, walking through the kitchen doorway and ending up in Grillby’s shop. His apartment was right upstairs, he’d been in it once or twice, but he wanted to be proper and give Grillby some time to get dressed. He moved further into the shop, past the kitchen and opening a door that hid a set of stairs that lead upward to the other’s apartment.

‘ _Not that him being naked is bad at all. Stars, I wonder what he looks like underneath that suit- No. Bad Papyrus. Daydream about your boyfriend later.'_  

That thought made him stop in his tracks, halfway up the stairs.

‘ _Are we boyfriends…? I’ll have to clarify that, as soon as I figure out what’s going on with him._ ’

He kept going up the last few stairs and knocked on the door. There was no response.

“Tea? Babe? It’s Honey.” he paused, listening. No sound. “I’m coming in,” he said, turning the handle and pushing the door open, expecting it to be locked. It wasn’t.

He immediately felt on edge and crept slowly through the apartment after shutting the door quietly behind him. The living room and kitchen were combined into one, with a short hallway leading to three doors, one was the bathroom, another was a closet with a special clothes washer in it -- Undyne had made it for him, Grillby said with a happy grin -- and the last, the door at the very end of the hall, was his bed room. The door was slightly ajar, and faint light was spilling out into the hallway. Instead of wasting time walking, he took a shortcut to the doorway and pushed open the door.   
  
“Tea?” he called softly. There was a lump on the bed, covered in blankets and shivering every now and then, a choked sound coming from within. Papyrus didn’t even bother to look around the rest of the room. He put the tacos in his inventory and sat on the bed, gently touching the lump.

“Tea? It’s Honey, you feeling okay?”

The lump shifts a little and a choked, muffled sob reaches his ears, making Papyrus’ Soul sink. Fuck, why didn’t he try to come earlier. He pulled the blankets away and was met with a pathetic sight.

Grillby was curled in a ball, arms wrapped around himself as he bit into a pillow, black marks etching out his eyes as dark tears flowed down his cheeks. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, his back to Papyrus, showing an ugly set of scars that ran from his left shoulder to his right hip, a deep, ugly grey and black, smaller scars littering his sides and down his back. It looked like a comet trail from one of the books Sans liked to read, something to do with stars. It didn’t look recent, but it looked painful. He felt magic roiling up inside him, wanting to track down whoever did this to his boyfriend and make them pay. Instead, he reached out and gently touched Grillby’s shoulder.

“Tea? Grillby? Babe?” the way he flinched from his touch made something stab through Papyrus’ Soul but he steeled himself. Grillby didn’t seem to be in his right mind, either in pain or sick and Papyrus had left him alone. While at his request, he could have at least called sooner. “Babe, you gotta talk to me. What hurts? What’s wrong?”

Grillby gave a soft whine, releasing his pillow and looking at Papyrus with hazy gold eyelights. They were dim, and the flames around them sizzled with tears, the dark orange liquid running slowly over his cheeks. There were dark, almost black marks there the tears had carved paths, sizzling faintly as they moved, smudging faintly, almost like soot. It was painful to look at. He rolled over so he was facing Papyrus, looking a little surprised.

“H-Honey?” Grillby hiccupped through his tears. Papyrus nodded and gave him a smile.

“Heya, hot stuff. I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner, I thought you wanted your space. That’s not important now. What hurts? I can go and get something to help, or just go get your sister-?” He was a little surprised when Grillby curled tighter before he turned over and tried to pull his blankets back up around him.

“Grillby, you need to talk to me,” Papyrus said firmly and a fresh batch of tears sprang to Grillby’s eyes.

“Hurts…”

“What hurts? I’m not a mind reader, baby.” he said, gentler and reaching out to gently rub his shoulder, pleased when this time Grillby didn’t flinch away.

“Ev-everything…” Grillby whimpered through his tears, closing his eyes again. “J-Just want it t-to stop.”

“Shhshhshh, it’s okay,” Papyrus soothed, kicking his shoes off and maneuvering Grillby up and then into his arms, then laying down again and trying comfort his mess of a boyfriend. He hiccuped and cried, burying his face in Papyrus’ chest, clinging to his sweatshirt as Papyrus ran a gentle hand up and down the scar that ran across his back. It was a horrible thing to think, but he felt more relaxed around Grillby now, knowing he had scars, that he was marked up. The numb part of his cervical vertabrae, from all the times the kid had cut through his neck, dusting him instantly tingled slightly from the heat.

Grillby hiccuped and cried, the sounds muffled by Papyrus’ hoodie. He felt exhausted and he wasn’t even done crying. He cried and cried, Honey just holding him close and cuddled him, nuzzling his flames every now and then, one arm wrapped securely around his waist, the other moving up and down his back, rubbing his neck, running through his hair. Slowly, he calmed down and was able to breathe without his breath hitching in a fresh wave of tears.

“You hungry?”

Grillby blinked a little and then gave a slow nod. “...Yeah.”

“What’d you eat today?”

He had to think about it for far too long in Papyrus’ opinion.

“What day is it?” His stomach growled loudly and Papyrus got up quickly.

“Alright, I’ll be right back. Don’t move an inch.” 

He took a shortcut downstairs as he hot,lut of the bed, grabbing a few of the acorn cakes that Grillby loved, as well as some coal and a few roots, then put it all on a plate and took the tacos from his inventory, placing them next to the rest of the food before shortcutting upstairs. Grillby was staring at him in awe and wonder, some of his usual light coming back to his eyes.

“I’ll never get over you being able to do that,” he said with a hint of a smile.

“It’s nothing big. Now, dig in.” He crawled back into bed with the other, wrapping his arm around Grillby’s shoulder as the other slowly but steadily ate the food that was on the plate, nibbling away at the tacos and acorn cakes and slowly burning through the coal and roots. When he was finally done, Papyrus took the plate and used gravity magic to float it to his desk before tugging Grillby against his chest, humming softly, tracing over the scars.

“When you’re having bad days, babe, you can tell me. I have em too,” he said suddenly. “Days were I can’t do more than sleep and just smoke. But you can’t just expect me to know what was wrong right off the bat.”

“...I didn’t want you to know,” Grillby said, voice muffled. “I didn’t want you to have to worry about me, or about my stupid problems, or see my scars-” he cut himself off, tears brimming in his eyes. “Everyone that’s seen them knows they’re ugly, that what I did was inexcusable, and-and,”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, sweetheart,” Papyrus said, making Grillby look at him, smiling faintly. “I like your scars, no matter what they’re from. They mean you survived, you know? But uhm…”

“You want to know how I got them?” Grillby said with a bitter smile and Papyrus nodded, giving a nervous chuckle.

“Heh, am I that obvious?” he sighed then and settled down a little more so he and Grillby were more face to face, looking each other in the eyes. “If you don’t want to,”

“No, better late than never, I guess.” Grillby said with a bitter smile before he took a deep breath and began,

“I’m honestly surprised you never heard of it before now. It was pretty big gossip throughout the Underground. But, anyways. When I was a child, I had a friend. Or, I guess I thought we were friends. One day, we went to Waterfall, we were twelve at the time, we-I didn’t know any better. He wanted to play monsters and humans, and I agreed. He was the Monster, I was the Human. He started to chase me, throwing magic attacks at me and I didn’t have much chance to dodge. One attack hit me in the back and I fell into a cave. I screamed and cried for help, but...Nobody came. I thought he’d gone to get help, but the water w-was coming up so fast. So, I climbed out, barely. The scars on my back is a combination of water damage, a rock cutting my back open and his magical attack hitting me. I crawled out and was found by the guards, taken to a healer. W-When I g-got out of the hospital, I went to see him. I-I wanted to tell him I knew it w-wasn’t his fault, that it was a-an accident. He said it wasn’t an ac-accident, that he wanted me dead. Then, h-he pinned me down and tried to carve out my Soul.” Grillby pulled away a bit and pressed a shaking hand to his chest, over his Soul. There was a faint mirage and then a similar, though smaller, grey and black scar was on his chest.

“He almost got my Soul b-but I yanked o-out his Soul… And-And I set it on fire. I dusted him,” Grillby whispered, looking horrified. “I _killed him_ . Q-Queen Toriel pardoned me, s-she said that it was self d-defense and mo-monsters looked at me with such _pity,_ ” he took a shuddering breath, tears starting to fall again. “I hated it. I hate the scars on me, I hate that I was so naive…”

“Grillby, look at me,” Papyrus said firmly, making sure the other was looking him in the sockets. “I can’t imagine that kind of pain. I wish it didn’t have to happen to you, I wish that the fuck was still around so I could dust him myself. But, he’s not. What happened… It was terrible. And I’m so sorry you had to go through it. But, you’re safe now. And if anyone tries to fuck with you again, you call for me and I’ll be there in a blink.”

“...Really?” the pitifully hopeful tone in his voice was almost breaking Papyrus’ Soul.

He nodded and pressed a kiss to Grillby’s forehead. “Of course I mean it. You’re my boyfriend. Kinda in the job description of taking care of you, along with making cheesy puns that make you laugh like an absolute dork.”

The light blue blush that spread over Grillby’s cheeks was worth being that open. Papyrus felt a soft orange blush blooming in return over his cheeks and gave a soft, dorky,

“Nyhehehehehe,” in response. His boyfriend was absolutely adorkable.

“Boyfriend...I like that,” Grillby said, a small, sweet smile come across his face. “So, if we’re officially boyfriends, and you’re a skeleton… Does that make you my vertabae?”

Papyrus stared at the other for a moment in silence, making Grillby squirm. “I’m sorry, was that a bad joke? Should I not have-?”

“You’re wonderful,” Papyrus said, a large grin coming across his teeth, giggling as he nuzzled the other. “If I’m your vertabae, that makes you Grillbae,”

“Boo, bad joke,” Grillby said, though he was smiling a little more and Papyrus wiped away the last of his tears, pressing a gentle skeleton kiss to his forehead.

“Eh, can’t all be rib ticklers. Now, why don’t we get some sleep, yeah?”

Grillby nodded and curled up against him as he fished out his phone and texted Sans,

_Me: hey bro, tea’s too sick to leave alone. i’ll be here for the next few days. tell alphys for me?_

_BRO: OH NO!!! OF COURSE I WILL, BROTHER!! MAKE SURE YOU STAY HEALTHY TOO!! A SICK MONSTER CANNOT CARE FOR ANOTHER VERY EASILY!!!_

_Me: heh, i know bro. we’ll be ok. tea’s asleep rn. gonna go to sleep myself._

_BRO: ALRIGHT! MAKE SURE YOU EAT A GOOD BREAKFAST!!_

_Me: plannin on it, bro. nini._

_BRO: NIGHTY NIGHT BROTHER!!_

Papyrus put his phone on the bedside table, where Grillby’s glasses were, knocking into them gently, and then tugged the blankets up around him and Grillby.

“Sleep well, babe,” Papyrus yawned, tugging him close and chuckling when he heard a soft mumble and crackle from Grillby, who had already wrapped himself around Papyrus, head tucked against his boyfriend’s broad chest, arms wrapped around his ribs and tucked up close to his side. A bit of shifting and Papyrus wrapped their legs together and tucked Grillby’s head underneath his chin. And within moments, he was following the other into blissful, dreamless sleep.


	5. Define

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's your defination of love?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *pops head up from nest of blankets* I'M ALIVE!! Whew, that was a close one. Well, quick note, I'm back at school and this semester is all kinds of insane but I should be posting a little more now that I am out of my slump. Thank you to those who've commented, left kudos and bookmarked, it means a lot! As always, I am my own beta, so if you see any spelling, grammar, or plot mistakes, please do tell me and I will do my best to fix them as soon as possible! Enough from me, on with the story!  
> No, wait, I lied.  
> DISCLAIMER!! I OWN NOTHING!! UNDERTALE BELONGS TO TOBY FOX, I OWN NOTHING, aside from the plot of this story and the versions of the Underswap characters, Honey and Mwesh belong to Mweshellow, I OWN NOTHING!  
> Okay, now on with the story! I hope you enjoy!
> 
> -RR

“What’s my definition of what now?”

“Your definition of love.”

“Oh.”

He’s quiet, staring up at the snow as it begins to fall, their footsteps muffled by the snow, crunching softly as they walk along. Hands threaded together, the other stuffed in a hoodie pocket and the other resting in a pants pocket, thumb resting outside. The shorter walks a little closer to the taller, but then he moves to let go of his hand as he says,

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked," 

Long fingers thread their fingers together, keeping them connected.

“What’s yours?”

Silence. Soft crackling flame and a long, almost quiet exhale. Silence.

“Looking at someone and feeling an unexplainable knot in your throat, feeling your Soul beat faster and faster until it feels like it will burst. Arguments resolved with something that the other enjoys, a peace offering. Feeling safe, calm when they’re around. Missing them when they’re gone in a way that you can’t describe and when they’re next to you, it makes you ache to hold them just a minute longer. You want each kiss to last a life time. You want each word to be understood even if it isn’t. You want to help them and you cry when you can’t. And when you’re gone, I,” he stops. 

“Tea,”

“Sorry, I’m being silly again.” A forced giggle, he let's go of skeletal fingers and then slightly louder steps. “Come on, we should get back before Mwesh and Fuku send Alphys after us.”

“It’s drinking tea next to you, even if I don’t particularly like it, and staring into your eyes, lost and not caring that I won’t find the end.” The drawl is soft, thick like his nickname and it makes the other freeze in place. He walks towards the elemental and wraps his arms around his shoulders. “It’s watching you be an absolute dork and listening to you laugh, waking up next to you and not wanting to go back to sleep. I could stay up for hours and just watch your flames shift.”

“Honey," 

“It’s making you smile from my shitty puns and making you laugh. It’s making you feel safe and never wanting to see you upset, cuddling you when you have bad days and just… being with you, Grillby.”

He squeezes him tight and nuzzles against his neck, breathing for a moment. He smels of charcoal, cinnamon, something bittersweet, and something earthy, and overtop all of that is a faint smell of honey. A slender hand rests over his and squeezes, and from his position, he can see the bright blue blush and a small, shy smile. 

“It’s… It’s being hugged by you, and knowing you’re always going to be here, even- even if I feel like I don’t deserve to be happy. It’s learning more about you and falling a little more.”

Silence. Neither can speak, neither want to break the utter peace of the moment, the warmth soaking through to cold bones, and the weight of heavy bones pressed against his back. His eyes slide shut and he relaxes, completely, into the other. A low chuckle and then a hand drags down his back and he lets out a squeak.

“It’s also knowing that this wonderful ass is mine.”

A pause and then a sigh and Grillby stepped out of Papyrus’ embrace, walking towards Snowdin, out of the forest.

“No, now you’ve ruined the moment.” he’s fighting off a smile as he walks though and Papyrus is left to catch up. He frowns and takes a quick short cut in front of Grillby, faint worry etched into his bones.

“Shit, babe did I upset you?”

He pauses and stares up at Papyrus, then put a hand to his chest and leaned up, so close to his teeth like he were about to kiss him. He stops short and says with a smile, 

“I love you, Papyrus.” And with a small step around him, continues on, but much slower, hand out of his pocket and trailing a bit.  
  
The skeleton blinked and hurried to catch up, winding their fingers together and they fall in step easy as breathing.

“I love you too, Grillby.”


End file.
